Strawberry Fields Forever
by N.S. Van Gogh
Summary: When he learns that his former lover was brutally killed by suspected human traffickers, Ichigo snaps, and loses what little sanity he had left. He sets out on a journey to murder the people responsible for her death, which takes an unsuspected turn as the rabbit hole grows deeper, and his body count grows larger, leading him to a mysterious organization known as the Soul Society.
1. Introduction

**Introduction/Plot Summary**

Ichigo Kurosaki is a man struggling to get by. Despite dreaming big as a young man, he is stuck at a dead-end job, barely bringing home enough money to support his wife and two kids. Despite loving and caring for his wife, Ichigo is haunted almost every night with dreams of his former lover, and her mysterious disappearance nearly 20 years ago.

When he learns that his former lover was brutally tortured, raped, and killed by suspected human traffickers, Ichigo snaps, and loses what little sanity he had left. He sets out on a journey to brutally murder the people responsible for her death, which takes an unsuspected turn as the rabbit hole grows deeper, and his body count grows larger, leading him to a mysterious secret organization known as the Soul Society, and their wealthy and elite members, the soul reapers.

Meanwhile, Ichigo's wife Orihime, worried about her husband's disappearance, hires a private investigator named Kisuke Urahara to find him. Things take an unexpected turn however, as secrets of Ichigo's past are revealed, which if spoken of, could destroy the Kurosaki family, for generations.

This story contains sensitive material, such as depression, suicide, murder, etc. When I was younger, I used to write romantic fanfics about Ichigo and Rukia. I was 15 back then, six years ago. The same age as the Bleach characters. Now, as a 21 year old struggling with college and balancing jobs, I wanted to try writing a different version of the Ichigo character. Instead of a popular high school student, he's a middle aged man in an unhappy marriage, and a dead end job, struggling with work fatigue and depression like many men and women in modern Japan. I wanted to explore the possibility of how far you can push a man like that before they snap and lose all sense of reality, and seek only blood.

I combined different elements from Bleach, cyber-punk genres, neo-noir, mystery, drama, crime, romanticism, dark fantasy, coming of age, teen, and so on. I hope you enjoy. I will try to update and add new chapters as much as I can.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

It was ten o'clock pm, and Ichigo sat at his desk, isolated in a cramped little cubicle, in an otherwise empty and dead office. Most of the employees had gone home for the night, but Ichigo happened to be the unlucky one stuck filling out the weekly financial report. Heavy rainfall could be heard overhead, muffled and splattering against the roof and walls of the building. The faint humming of the florescent light growing seemingly louder and louder. Ichigo yawned, and continued typing away, copying and adding up numbers from the sheets given to him by his boss. There were dark bags under his eyes, and his skin full of light wrinkles. His hair was beginning to turn gray as well, despite only being in his mid-thirties. Next to him on his desk was a bottle of pain relieving drugs, and a framed picture of his family.

_"Ichigo"_

A faint whisper startled him, and Ichigo snapped out of his computer-induced trance.

_"Ichigo"_

It sounded like the voice came from outside, but that would be impossible, the glass door and rain would have at least muffled it. Ichigo tried to look through the glass, but only saw the reflection of the office. He got up, and walked over to the door. Pausing for a second to listen, he slowly opened it and stepped out into the rain. Despite being dark out, the city of Tokyo was lit up by thousands of bright glowing signs and windows, which reflected off the drops of water rolling down Ichigo's jacket. His office was located at the top section of a medium sized skyscraper, and the door he just took led to the top floor of a parking ramp.

_"Ichigo"_

Ichigo froze, and turned to the edge of the building. Standing in the shadows was a dark silhouette of a person, very short and petite. Despite not being able to see any features, he instantly recognized the them.

"Ru-Rukia?" Ichigo stammered, his hands shaking, and his tears being camouflaged by the rain rolling down his face. He took a step, and had to grip the wall of the parking ramp to balance himself. His entire body was soaked by rain now, and the air was getting colder. The figure stepped back into the shadows.

"W-wait!" Ichigo shouted, running to the shadowy area. It was a dead end, the figure had vanished seemingly in thin air. Ichigo collapsed to the ground, his vision getting blurry. The rain was still continuing to fall hard, and the whistling of the wind over Tokyo gave off an eerie ambient sound. Ichigo glanced across the building, and saw a bright light coming from over the edge. He slowly got up, and made his way over, and climbed on the concrete barrier. Looking down, he saw hundreds of moving lights and bright colors. His body was growing numb, and his legs getting shakier. For the first time in more than twenty years, he was at peace. He was the ruler of Tokyo, the Emperor of Japan. He was a giant among the tiny cars and people below. The rain and lightning was under his control, he was the god of the universe. Ichigo jumped. The moving, colorful lights below spinning in all directions. A tinging feeling moving up through his stomach. He held out his arms and legs, feeling the wind and rain hit him from all directions. Then, Ichigo felt an intense pain, and everything went black.

Three Years Later

"So tell me, when did she begin coming back to you?"

"Who?"

"Rukia."

Ichigo was laying down on a couch, staring at the ceiling. Next to him was his therapist, Dr. Hirako, sitting at an office chair, his legs crossed with a notepad on his lap.

"A-About a year before my accident."

"Accident?"

"When I jumped off the building." Ichigo muttered, knowing that Dr. Hirako knew damn well what accident he was referring to.

"I see." Dr. Hirako scribbled in his notepad. "Explain to me exactly what she did when she visited you?"

"Well, at first she only appeared in my dreams. Half the dreams I really don't remember, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. At least not until I began dreaming about her every night. Then, I began to see her-"

"See her?" Dr. Hirako cut him off. "What do you mean by that?" Ichigo grunted.

"How about you let me finish talking, and I'll explain." Ichigo closed his eyes. "She would call my name, and watch me from a distance, usually in the shadows."

Dr. Hirako chuckled.

"No need to get upset Ichigo, I'm just trying to get all the facts. Now tell me, you mentioned before that you used to be in a relationship with this Rukia about twenty or so years ago? My records show that you two attended the same high school, she was a transfer student your second year. Explain to me what your relationship was like, and how it ended."

Ichigo rubbed his eyes and looked away from his therapist. Every week for the past six months, he attended these therapy sessions. The same questions asked, and the same answers given.

"Look, I've told you a thousand times, my time with Rukia was the best in my life. We were just a bunch of dumb kids who didn't know the real world. I loved her, and I wanted to spend my life with her. Even when she vanished, I spent years looking, refusing to even speak to another girl."

Hirako nodded.

"What about your wife, Orihime? Do you love her, are you happy to be with her?"

"What, of course I am, I love my wife a lot, dammit." Ichigo replied coldly. "I moved on from Rukia. The police told me she was either dead, or did not want to be found. I needed to move on."

"But you didn't move on."

"Excuse me?"

Dr. Hirako sighed and set his notepad on his desk. He got up and walked over to an open window, and lit a cigarette. After a few puffs of smoke he sat back down, cigarette still in mouth.

"Ichigo, I need you to listen to me. This is honestly what I believe caused you to throw yourself from that roof three years ago." Hirako offered a cigarette to Ichigo, who refused. "Based on the information you provided me, you seem to hate your life, despise your job, and are suffering from severe depression and exhaustion. You saw the world as full of opportunities, but in what seemed like an instant to you, your life transformed into an endless cycle of spending long hours at work, and struggling to make money to support your wife and kids. You may love your wife, I understand that, and I believe you. However, loving your wife does not mean you've moved on from Rukia. Your life before you left college was perfect, and Rukia was at the center of it. Because of that, I believe her to be the embodiment of everything you cherished from that time period. She appeared more and more because your mental health continued to worsen. She was a hallucination."

Ichigo opened his mouth in protest, but slowly closed it. He didn't want to believe it, but what the therapist said was true. Without saying a word, Dr. Hirako got up, and lifted Ichigo from the couch, and gently set him in his wheelchair. The fall had smashed Ichigo's spine, paralyzing him from the waist down. It was a miracle he didn't die, and it took a year of constant surgery and attention to even wake him from his comatose state.

"Ichigo, before you leave, I think you need to see this." Dr. Hiarko walked over to his desk and grabbed a newspaper, handing it to Ichigo. "You would have seen this regardless, but I think it would be best if you saw it here."

When he saw the picture on the front page, Ichigo froze. It was Rukia. Her body had been found.

**CHAPTER 2 COMING SOON**


End file.
